EUROPEAN UNION HUMANITARIAN AID IN DALMATIA HUMANITARNA POMOC EUROPSKE UNIJE U DALMACUI Please mind that this booklet was ready to be printed in early June 1995 and most of the texts were written down in early May this year. Thus, some of aspects mentioned at that time are no longer valid when being printed in August 1995. Humanitarian emergency policies in search of efficacity must be flexible enough to be quickly adapted to a extremely changing reality. Molim Vas da imate na umu da je ova brodura bila spremna za tiskanje podetkom lipnja 1995. godine, a najveci dio teksta napisan podetkom svibnja iste godine. Prikladno tome, neki od podataka iz ovog teksta vise nec'e biti tocni kada se budu tiskali u kolovozu 1995. Hitna humanitama strategija u potrazi za djelotvomoscu mora biti dovoljno elasticna da bi se mogla brzo prilagoditi jako promjenljivoj stvamosti. PUBLISHED by ECTF, 1995. EDITED by Boris Gombad, Ph.D., & Enrique Aguado Asenjo. TRANSLATION into Croatian by Nela Rabadija. PHOTOGRAPHIES by Pablo Maria Garcia Llamas. PROOFREADERS: Luka Milanovid & Enrique Aguado Asenjo. PRINTED by Bramil, Split. IZDAVAC: ECTF, 1995. UREDNICI: dr. Boris Gombac & Enrique Aguado Asenjo. PRIJEVOD na Hrvatski: Nela Rabadija. SLIKE: Pablo Maria Garcia Llamas. KOREKTURA: Luka Milanovid & Enrique Aguado Asenjo. TISAK: Bramil, Split. . . J ■ 55360 /ZQ5 PREFACE This booklet is addressed on behalf of the European Community Humanitarian Office/ECHO to representatives of: a) the European Union Member States working in Bosnia-Herzego- vina, Croatia and Slovenia; b) the international agencies UNHCR, ICRC, IFRC, UNICEF, WHO, WFP and IOM; c) the offices of Governments of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia and Slovenia, working in humanitarian relief; f d) Governmental and Non-Governmental Organizations; e) written and spoken press, etc. The aim is to present the humanitarian activities of the European Community Task Force/ECTF in Dalmatia in order to improve coordi¬ nation and information with third partners, particularly with Member States of the European Union, as well as with the UNHCR and NGOs. ECTF improved and developed its internal structure and external acti¬ vities during the first year, increasing its support to the leading Agency, the UNHCR, but also to some European Union Governmental and Non-Go- vemmental Organizations. In doing so, ECTF has continuously marked its presence in the field. In line with the lessons and indications given by Robert Schuman through his declaration forty-five years ago, the European Union, is ac¬ ting in the world with a spirit of unity and peace. This is the message which the European Union and its Member States wished to give to the other countries and multilateral organizations. Bearing this in mind, ECTF will continue improving its activities in the humanitarian sector. Zagreb, June 1995. Francisco MARTINEZ-ESPARZA, Head ECTF. 3 UVOD Ovu brosuru upucuje Humanitarni Ured Europske zajednice/ECHO predstavnicima: a) drzava clanica Europske Unije koje djeluju u Bosni i Hercegovini, Hrvatskoj i Sloveniji; b) medunarodnih organizacija: UNHCR, ICRC, IFRC, UNICEF, WFP i IOM; c) Ureda republickih vlada Hrvatske, Bosne i Hercegovine i Slo- venije, koji se bave humanitamom pomoci; d) svih radiotelevizijskih i pisanih medija. Glavni cilj je prikazati djelovanje Radne Grupe Europske Zajedni- ce/ECTF u Dalmaciji na podrucju humanitame pomoci, sa zeljom da se poboljsa koordinacija i informacija sa drugim partnerima, narocito s drza- vama Ganicama Europske Unije kao i sa UNHCR i nevladinim orga- nizacijama. ECTF je tijekom prve godine poboljsao i prosirio svoju unutamju strukturu i vanjske aktivnosti, poboljsavajuci pritom podrsku glavnoj orga- nizaciji, UNHCR-u, ali ujedno i nekim vladinim i nevladinim organiza- cijama. Na taj je nacin ECTF neprestano biljezila svoju nazocnost na tom polju. U skladu s poukama i uputama Roberta Schumana kroz njegovu dekla- raciju od prije cetrdeset i pet godina, Europska Unija u svijetu djeluje u duhu ujedinjenja i mira. Ovo je poruka koju Europska Unija i njene drzave Ganice zele uputiti drugim drzavama i multilateralnim organizacijama. U odnosu na spomenuto ECTF ce i dalje nastaviti poboljsavati svoju ulogu na humanitamom planu. Zagreb, lipnja 1995. Francisco MARTINEZ-ESPARZA, Voditelj ECTF-a. 4 Preface by Francisco Martinez-Esparza CONTENTS 3 ECTF and its objectives. 6 The arrival of ECTF in Dalmatia: meaning effects and persepctive, by Boris Gombac. 10 Beneficiaries of ECTF food aid program 1008 in Dalmatia. 17 Activities of the ODPR - Split, by Lena Elek. 18 The relevance of The European Union humanitarian aid for Dalmatia, by Luka Milano vie . 22 Caritas - Split and the European Union humanitarian aid, by don Marko Cubelic. 28 Red Cross - Split and ECTF, by Jakov Kovac . 32 Cooperation between Musim Charitable Association "Merhamet"- Split and ECTF, by Fadil Pasalic'. 36 Commodities and quantities of EU food programmes... 38 Other contributions of ECTF in Dalmatia, by Boris Gombac . 40 Humanitarian aid distribution network for the five biggest centres in Dalmatia. 44 Uvod (Francisco Martinez-Esparza) . 4 SADRZAJ ECTF i njegovi ciljevi. 7 Dolazak ECTF-a u Dalmaciju: namjera, perspektive, ucinci i rezultati, (Boris Gombac). 11 Korisnici humanitame pomoci u programu 1008 ECTF-a u Dalmaciji. 17 Djelatnosti Regionalnog ureda za prognanike i izbjeglice - Split (Lena Elek). 19 Znacenje humanitame pomoci Europske Unije za Dalmaciju, (Luka Milanovic). 23 Caritas - Split i humanitama pomoc Europske Unije (don Marko Cubelic). 29 Crveni kriz - Split i ECTF (Jakov Kovac) . 33 Suradnja izmedu Muslimanskog dobrovoljnog drustva "MERHAMET" - Split i ECTF (Fadil Pasalic) . 37 Proizvodi i kolicine pomoci EU-a u hrani. 39 Ostali doprinosi ECTF-a u Dalmaciji (Boris Gombac) . 41 Prikaz distribueije humanitame pomoci u pet najvecih centara na podrueju Dalmacije. 45 5 ECTF AND ITS OBJECTIVES The European Community Task Force (ECTF) was established by the European Council of Birmingham in October 1992 as an implementing body of the European Community Humanitarian Office (ECHO), now the largest contributor of humanitarian aid in the world. The decision of the European Council was to immediately establish an organism to support the efforts of the United Nations High Commis¬ sioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to deliver humanitarian aid to former Yugos¬ lav republics. OBJECTIVES OF ECTF ARE: - the support of UNHCR in delivering humanitarian aid in former Yugoslavia, - logistical support and experience necessary to implement huma¬ nitarian activities of UN agencies financed by the European Union, as well as of Non-Governmental Organizations, - to ensure a coordination of humanitarian actions in the field, financed by the EU. As an implementing body of ECHO, ECTF has now become one of the largest humanitarian organizations operating in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia and Slovenia. Since the beginning of the conflict in former Yugoslavia, ECHO has donated in form of Humanitarian Assistance over 956 million ECU (1,121 million USD), of which 400 million in 1993. A large part of this aid, both in terms of quantity and value, had been allocated to the republics of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia in different forms as a part of ECTF activities, respectively for 51% and 22.3%. ECTF ACTIVITIES INCLUDE: - Direct Food Aid to Croatia. - Medical, Psycho-Social, Coordinated Hygienics Programme, Enginee¬ ring support, as well as food assistance, given through non- governmental organizations. - Indirect assistance provided through multilateral humanitarian orga¬ nizations, namely UNHCR, UNICEF, WHO, WFP, ICRC and IFRC. Through 1994 some other humanitarian activities were deployed as follows: 6 ECTF I NJEGOVI CILJEVI Radnu grupu Europske zajednice (ECTF) osnovalo je Europsko vijece u Birminghamu u listopadu 1992. godine kao radno tijelo humanitamog ureda Europske zajednice (ECHO), sada najveceg donatora humanitarne pomoci na svijetu. Na Europskom je vijecu donesena odluka da se odmah uspostavi jedna organizacija za pomoc u radu Visokog komesarijata Ujedinjenih naroda za izbjeglice (UNHCR) za raspodjelu humanitarne pomoci u bivSim jugo- slavenskim republikama. CILJEVI ECTF-A SU SLIJEDECI: - pomoc UNHCR-u pri raspodjeli humanitarne pomoci u bivSoj Ju- goslaviji, - logisticka podrSka i potrebno iskustvo za realizaciju humanitamih aktivnosti UN-ovih organizacija koje financira EU, kao i nevladinih orga¬ nizacija, - osiguranje koordinacije humanitamih aktivnosti na terenu, a koje financira EU. Kao radno tijelo ECHO-a, ECTF je postala jedna od najvecih huma¬ nitamih organizacija koje djeluju u Bosni i Hercegovini, Hrvatskoj i Slo- veniji. Od pocetka sukoba u bivsoj Jugoslaviji ECHO je isporucio huma- nitarnu pomoc u vrijednosti vecoj od 956 milijuna ECU-a (1,121 milijun USD), od toga 400 milijuna u 1993. godini. Veliki dio te pomoci, kako u kolicini tako i u vrijednosti, upucen je u republike Bosnu i Hercegovinu i Hrvatsku na razlicite nacine, kao dio aktivnosti ECTF-a, i to 51% za BiH i 22,3% za Hrvatsku. ECTF AKTIVNOSTI UKLJUCUJU: - direktnu pomoc u hrani za Hrvatsku, - medicinsku i psiho-socijalnu pomoc, program higijene, tehnicku po¬ moc, a takoder i pomoc u hrani koju su dijelile izravno nevladine orga- nizacije, - indirektnu pomoc preko medunarodnih humanitaranih organizacija, a to su UNHCR, UNICEF, WHO, WEP, ICRC i IFRC. Tijekom 1994. godine neke druge humanitarne aktivnosti su se odvi- jale kako slijedi: 7 i) Together with some Member States and NGOs in the food and medical sector as well as in some ethical fields (exchange of prisoners) mainly in Bosnia-Herzegovina. ii) Increasing the consolidation of the logistics sector, internally and externally (e.g., German trucks, involvement of the Danish Civil Defence, involvement of the Danish Refugee Council, UK support; Portuguese con¬ tribution). iii) Increased involvement of Member States in the area of personnel support. iv) Involvement of the Commission (ECHO) for the Community, in the financial, logistic, material and personnel support. 8 1) Zajedno sa nekim drzavama clanicama i nevladinim organizacija- ma, djelatnost u podrucju pomoci u hrani i lijekovima, ali i na etickom planu (razmjena zarobljenika) naroCito u Bosni i Hercegovini. 2) Znacajno poboljsanje logistickog sektora, unutrasnjeg i vanjskog (npr. njemacki kamioni, ukljucivanje danske civilne obrane, pomoc Uje- dinjenog kraljevstva, portugalska pomoc). 3) Povecano ukljucivanje drzava clanica Europske Unije na podrucju pomoci u osoblju. 4) Ukljucivanje Komisije (ECHO) Europske Unije u financijskoj, logi- stickoj, matcrijalnoj i personalnoj pomoci. 9 THE ARRIVAL OF ECTF IN DALMATIA: MEANING, EFFECTS AND PERSPECTIVE. In Dalmatia, the distribution of European Union (EU) humanitarian aid for the victims of the war in former Yugoslavia started at the same time as in the rest of Croatia (1992). The conditions of the delivery of EU-food aid were established in the Memorandum of Understanding, signed between the Commission of the European Community and the Govern¬ ment of Croatia in 1993. According to this agreement, the ECTF food aid is aimed at the people (refugees, displaced persons and social cases) li¬ ving in the Croatian territory, under the control of Croatian authorities, whereas on the rest of the territory, being occupied by the Serbian forces (see grey zones on the cover page map), the ECTF direct food aid is not distributed. The idea to set up an ECTF logistic centre for distribution in Split - along with the one already existing in Zagreb - came up after some pro¬ blems - e. g., the blowing up of the bridge of Maslenica near Zadar - which impeded the regular supply of food for the beneficiaries in Dalmatia. Early in February 1994, an agreement with the Split’s firm Diokom, con¬ cerning the hiring of a warehouse in a place called TTTS, near Stobrec (Split), was signed. In that time, Mr. Boris Gomba£ came from Brussels, as Head of the ECTF humanitarian aid programme for Dalmatia. Under his personal supervision, there was a team composed of 7 monitors (mem¬ bers of the French organization Equilibre and the Spanish organization Movimiento por la paz, el desarme y la libertad), so many interpreters, six truck-drivers and a logistic coordinator. The seven sectors the monitors had to supervise were Zadar-Biograd, Sibenik-Unesic, Trogir-Kastela-Sinj-Brac -Hvar-Vis, Split-Solin, Omis-Makarska-Imotski, Gradac-Vrgorac-Plocc- Korcula-Metkovic, and Dubrovnik. The warehouse was kept running by a store manager (Damir Misetic) and four local workers. Thus, this team of about 25 people took care of the food distribution for around 200 thousand beneficiaries of humanitarian aid in Dalmatia. Some of the commodities were still coming from Zagreb but being stored in Split, and so it is possible to deliver the aid directly from the EU factories to Dalmatia. Most of the aid was brought by trucks while smaller quantities were shipped in. At the beginning of August, a new logistic coordinator, Mr. Eric Beaudet, joined the team and a little bit earlier the number of trucks was reduced. Although the work of this team is not done under worrying conditions of danger, due to the roads and the continuous movility of the staff on the field, they have undergone several accidents, among which two very serious and even a young lady badly injured had to be repatriated to Madrid. 10 DOLAZAK ECTF-a U DALMACIJU: NAMJERA, UCINCI I PERSPEKTIVE Raspodjela humanitame pomoci za zrtve rata u bivsoj Jugoslaviji po£ela je u Dalmaciji istodobao kad i u drugim dijelovima Hrvatske (1992). Uvjeti dostave EU-ove pomoci u hrani utvrdeni su dokumentom "Me¬ morandum o razumijevanju" ("Memorandum of Understanding"), potpisa- nim 1993. godine izmedu Komisije Europske Unije i Vlade Republike Hrvatske. Ovim dokumentom dogovoreno je da se ECTF-ova pomoc u hrani pruzi ljudima (izbjeglici, prognanici i socijalni slucajevi) koji zive na podrucju Hrvatske, a koje se nalazi pod upravom hrvatskih vlasti, dok na ostalim podrucjima, koja su pod okupacijom srpskih snaga (vidi siva podru- Cja na prvoj stranici), ECTF-ova izravna pomoc u hrani nije ras- podjeljivana. Ideja o osnivanju ECTF-ova logistickog centra za raspodjelu u Splitu (uz jedan vec postojeci u Zagrebu) javila se nakon sto su se pojavili neki problemi, tj. nakon sto je most na Maslenici blizu Zadra dignut u zrak, a to je onemogucilo redovitu opskrbu hranom korisnika pomoci u Dalmaciji. Pocetkom velja£e 1994. godine potpisan je ugovor sa splitskom tvrtkom Diokom, koji se odnosio na unajmljivanje skladista na prostoru TTTS-a, pokraj Stobreca (blizu Splita). Tada je iz Bruxellesa stigao dr. Boris Gom- bac, kao voditelj ECTF-ova programa za humanitamu pomoc za Dalmaciju. Pod njegovim osobnim nadzorom formirana je ekipa koju su cinili sedmo- rica promatraca (clanovi francuske organizacije Equilibre i spanjolske orga- nizacije Movimiento por la paz, el desarme y la libertad), sedmorica prevo- ditelja, sestorica vozaca kamiona i logisticki koordinator. Sedam sektora koji su promatrabi morali nadzirati bili su slijedeci: Zadar-Biograd, Sibe- nik-Unesic, Trogir-Kastela-Sinj-Brac-Hvar-Vis, Split-Solin, Omis-Makars- ka-Imotski, Gradac-Vrgorac-PloCe-Kordula-Metkovic i Dubrovnik. Skla di- §tem je rukovodio gosp. Damir Misetic, a uz njega su radila jos cetiri domaca radnika. Tako se ova ekipa od oko 25 ljudi brinula za raspodjelu hrane za blizu 200 tisuca korisnika humanitame pomoci. Dio robe jos je stizao iz Zagreba, ali je zbog mogucnosti uskladistenja u Splitu bilo moguce dostavljati hranu izravno iz tvornica EU-a u Dalmaciju. Veci dio potrebne robe dopreman je kamionima, dok su manje kolicine dopremljene brodom. PoCetkom kolovoza grupi se pridruzio gosp. Eric Beaudet. NeSto prije toga smanjen je broj kamiona. Iako ova grupa nije radila u zabrinjavajuce opa- snim uvjetima, zbog lo§ih cesta i stalnih putovanja osoba po terenu, do- godilo se nekoliko prometnih nesreca, medu kojima su bile dvije veoma ozbiljne, i jedna se mlada clanica grupe tesko ozlijedena morala vratiti kuci u Madrid. 11 The number of aid beneficiaries was reduced by a half in one year time (from 200.000 to 109.000). Therefore, in such a period, it was clearly seen a tendency to go down in the number of refugees and displaced persons, while the number of social cases - because of the very difficult economic situation - was (and is) constantly increasing. However, according to the principles for distribution, either only one third of the social cases should receive some aid or if all of them still something receive, in this case, to the detriment of the two other categories. Those two categories are represented by refugees (people, coming mainly from Bosnia and Her¬ zegovina; Croats, Moslems and few Serbs), and the displaced persons (huge majority Croats, and few Serbs), those coming from the territories be¬ longing to the Republic of Croatia - when it was a member of the Yu¬ goslavian Federation - and nowadays under the rebel Serbian control. Refu¬ gees and displaced persons, are chiefly living in Dalmatia in collective centers (hotels, camps, barracks...) and in private accommodation. For those in collective centers, the Croatian government assigns 6,7 (in some cases 6,2) DM per person and per day to the administration of the centers, whereas those who are living in private accommodation receive a very limited financial help. The daily contribution of 6,7 DM per person was for one three months period covered by ECHO. Since June 1995, the EU humanitarian aid, through ECTF, is only aimed at refugees and displaced persons; and the Croatian authorities have further restricted the distribution of this aid to refugees and displaced in private accommodation. So, all social cases, refugees and displaced in collective centres are, in principle, no longer beneficiaries of ECTF food aid. What should be also underlined is that all refugees and displaced persons receive primary medical assistance free of charge. Medicines and other medical help for them have been for a long time provided by huma¬ nitarian organizations mostly financed by ECHO, but also by some other initiatives. ECTF monitors have been a guarantee that the food is being correctly distributed, at the same time there was a very clear evidence from the side of the Croatian government, local authorities (Organization for Displaced Persons and Refugees, ODPR) to relieve as much as possible the tragedy in which this population was pushed because of the war. Not only most refugees are living in high standard hotels - which were before the war devoted to turism - but also the meals in those collective centers are of very good quality. The refugees in private accommodation, in turn, are facing more material and financial difficulties, but they are living with more privacy. According to the ECTF normatives, taking into account the fact that the people in the collective centers are already having financial 12 Broj korisnika pomoci smanjio se tijekom jedne godine na polovicu (od 200 tisuca na 109 tisuca). U tom se razdoblju jasno mogla uociti tendencija smanjenja broja izbjeglica i prognanika, dok je broj socijalnih slucajeva bio (i jos uvijek jest) u stalnom porastu. Usprkos tome, u skladu s nacelima raspodjele, ili bi samo jedna trecina od ukupnog broja socijalnih slucajeva trebala dobivati pomoc ili bi, u slucaju da svi oni dobivaju nesto, to bilo naustrb drugih dviju kategorija korisnika. Ovim dvjema kategorijama pripadaju izbjeglice (ljudi koji uglavnom dolaze iz Bosne i Hercegovine; Hrvati, Muslimani i nesto Srba) i prognanici (velika vecina Hrvata i nesto Srba) koji stizu sa podrucja koja pripadaju Republici Hrvatskoj (pripadala su joj dok je bila clanica jugoslavenske federacije), a danas se nalaze pod okupacijom pobunjenih Srba. Izbjeglice i prognanici u Dalmac^iji vecinom zive u zajednicki organiziranom smjestaju (u hotelima, kampovima, monta- znim kucicama) i u privatnom smjestaju. Za one u zajednicki organiziranom smjestaju Vlada RH dodjeljuje upravama takvih centara 6,7 (odnosno 6,2) DEM po osobi dnevno, dok oni koji zive u privatnom smjestaju primaju veoma ogranicenu pomoc. Doprinos od 6,7 DEM po osobi dnevno jedno je tromjesecje pokrivao ECHO. Od lipnja 1995. godine humanitama pomoc EU-a, preko ETCF-a, namijenjena je samo za prognanike i izbjeglice, i hrvatske vlasti su jos suzile raspodjelu te pomoci samo na izbjeglice i prognanike u privatnom smjestaju. Socijalni slucajevi te prognanici i izbje¬ glice u kolektivnom smjestaju vise ne sudjeluju u raspodjcli humanitame pomoci ECTF-a. Takoder treba istaci da svi izbjeglice i prognanici besplatno uzivaju primamu zdravstvenu zastitu. Lijekove i ostalu medicinsku pomoc vec dulje vrijeme osiguravaju humanitame organizacije, koje uglavnom financira ECHO, ali tu su i neke druge incijative. ECTF-ovi promatraci su jamci za pravilnu raspodjelu hrane. Istodobno postoji uredna evidencija koju vodi Vlada RH i mjesne vlasti (Regionalni ured za prognanike i izbjeglice, RU), a sve to s ciljem da bi se Sto vise olaksala tragedija u koju je zbog rata gumuta ova populacija. Ne samo sto vecina izbjeglica zivi u hotelima visokih standarda (prije rata ti su hoteli bili namijenjeni turizmu), nego su i obroci u organiziranom smjestaju veoma visoke kvalitete. Izbjeglice pak u privatnom smjestaju suocavaju se s vecim materijalnim i financijskim teskocama, ali uzivaju vise privatnosti. U skladu s ECTF-ovim mjerilima, racunajuci na to da ljudi u zajednicki organiziranom smjestaju vec primaju vladinu pomoc i da socijalni slucajevi (mjesno stanovnistvo s veoma nis- kim prihodima) trebaju primiti samo jednu trecinu pomoci koja pripada ostalim korisnicima u privatnom smjestaju, ova posljednja grupa treba pri¬ miti 18 kg hrane po osobi mjcsecno (ta se kolicina sastoji od 14 artikala). Ovo je vrijedilo do lipnja 1995. Jedan se dio ECTF-ove pomoci u hrani (pseniCno brasno i kvasac) salje izravno u pekare iz kojih se kruh besplatno dijeli izbjeglicama u privatnom smjestaju, kao Sto je to slucaj, na primjer, 13 help from the Croatian government and that the social cases (local inha¬ bitants with a very low revenue) should receive only one third of the aid which belongs to other beneficiaries in private accommodation, this last group should receive per month and per person about 18 kgrs of food (composed of 14 items). This was valid to June 1995. One part of the ECTF food aid (wheat flour and yeast) is directly going to the bakeries, from which bread is freely distributed to the refugees in private accommodation like, for instance, in Zadar, Sibenik, and Makarska. But it is up to the Croatian authorities to decide on which key bases the final distribution of food will be done. The ECTF has only to take care that all the food is really distributed to the right beneficiaries of the aid. It should not be forgotten that refugees also receive some aid, apart from that of the ECTF, form other international organizations (UNHCR, Caritas, International Federation of the Red Cross, etc.) and private dona¬ tions, and that a lot of them have relatives abroad. The Croatian authorities are making almost no difficulties for those who want to work. It remains, however, a smaller category of refugees - mostly, elderly people, children and sick - who deserve, as in every society, a special attention and whose situation could be, no doubt, improved. In general, malnutrition among the population (local inhabitants and refugees) is practically inexisting and on the road it is impossible to differentiate a refugee from local people. So, we may assert that this terrible interethnical war, which had shocked Europe at the end of the 20th century, was in its negative effects localised. Never before in history, such a big attention was foccussed on a similar tragedy as it has been paid to the victims of war in former Yugoslavia. Unfor¬ tunately, it seems that most refugees and displaced people in non-occupied Croatia (385 thousand, out of them in Dalmatia, 92,7 thousand) have rather a small chance to return to their homes in the immediate future. The same is valid for the refugees, mainly Serbs, living in the territories under Serbian control or to those living in other Republics of former Yugoslavia. Only a political and pragmatical approach can bring, in the long term, a solution for this immense Balkanic tragedy. The arm confrontation is, however, leaving, more and more space to the diplomatic negotiations which will be the last chapter in this cruel story. Expecting the complete pacification of the area and taking into ac¬ count that the number of refugees is constantly decreasing, the ECTF aid is - as a whole - decreasing too. A peaceful approach of the Croatian government to the solution of the war crisis - along with the pacification of the general situation - has permitted the European Union authorities to establish new links with Croatia, which also means the implementation, for 14 u Zadru, Sibeniku i Makarskoj. Ipak, na Vladi je RH odluciti na kojim be se kljucnim osnovama zasnivati raspodjela hrane. ECTF se mora brinuti da se hrana stvamo raspodijeli istinski potrebitima. Ne bi trebalo zaboraviti da izbjeglice primaju odredenu pomoc neza- visno od ECTF-a, dakle od ostalih medunarodnih organizacija (UNHCR-a, Caritasa, Crvenog kriza) i od privatnih donacija, a mnogi od njih imaju rodbinu u inozemstvu. Hrvatske vlasti ne prave gotovo nikakvih poteSkoba onima koji zele raditi. Ipak ostaje i dalje manja grupa izbjeglica, vecinom starijih ljudi, djece i bolesnika koji zavrjeduju, kao i u svakom druStvu, posebnu pozomost i